A Better Catholic

Misa de Gallo is the name given in Spanish to the mass celebrated at midnight on Christmas Eve.    Here in the Philippines, the prayer is done early in the morning on Christmas Eve, and it is the last day of a nine-day ritual known as Simbang Gabi, and today is the start of the nine-day ritual.  Completing the nine days of Misa de Gallo is said to make a wish come true, and many Filipinos believe this centuries-old promise up to this day.

It's time of Puto bumbong and bibingka too!

On Day 9 of the book Just Like Jesus by Max Lucado, he started the page by this scripture:



So how could we listen to God's heart?

In this book I learned important tools on how I can learn to listen to God.  And what are those tools?  Here are the ones he found useful, and I'm beginning to realize that these are definitely useful for one who wanting to be a Better Catholic:

A regular time and place.  Select a slot on your schedule and a corner of your world, and claim it for God.  For some it may be the best to do this in the morning...others prefer in the evening...

A second tool you need is an open Bible.  God speaks to us through his word.  The first step to reading the bible is to ask God to help you understand it...Don't go to scripture looking for your own idea; go searching for God's.

There is a third tool... A listening heart...If you want to be just like Jesus, let God have you.  Spend time listening for him until you receive your lesson for the day - then apply it.

What do you think of Max Lucado's tools on listening to God?  Did you find it helpful?

In the article "A 'Word' for You:  Looking for a Catholic Bible" by Maria Jose Franco published on the Catholic.net, She summarized what a Bible is and what this book will do to our lives.  She emphasized that the Bible is one of the oldest in history and continues to be a best seller decade after decade, not because the book is meant to narrate what happened 3000 years ago but it is a book that leads us to God.  And most importantly, this Holy Bible is written for us.

Me, as a Catholic honestly lacks exposure to the Bible and it is only limited on what I hear during Sunday Mass.  And sometimes it is hard for me to understand what the scriptures say, unless the Priest gives relevant examples to explain the readings on the bible.

But me, wanting to be a Better Catholic should not stop.  Remember, the Bible is the Word of God.  God is speaking to us through text.  Accorfing to Franco, This is his "Word" to us and the 72 books in the Bible is God's love letter to us.

Here are the pointers given by Maria Jose Franco on how we read this love letter, The Holy Bible:

1. Ask the Holy Spirit for some help! Just say, “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love.”

2. Read it. You can do this before going to bed or when you wake up. Do it for ten minutes; it won’t take much time, and you will gain a lot.

3. Study it. Take part in a Bible course, either at your parish or on-line.

4. Learn from it and apply it. Learn from the examples of the Bible figures; for example Moses’ perseverance in the desert, Daniel’s courage before the lions, David’s repentance after his sins. And there is even more to learn from Christ.  Apply this to your life. How can I keep going in my Christian life when things are hard? What would Christ do?

5. Pray about it. There are many methods of prayer. You can set aside some time at the beginning of your day where you pray to the Holy Spirit, read a passage of the Bible, and meditate on it. For example, in John 4, Christ meets the Samaritan woman. You might know the story by heart, but this time read the passage slowly. Did something new strike you? Can you relate to that woman? Are you thirsty for something in life? If you happened to encounter Christ standing by the “well,” what would you tell him?

6. Share it. Read to your kids before they go to bed. Buy an illustrated Bible so they can get into it. Draw the morals or lessons that they can learn from it and ask them to come up with a resolution of how they can live that the next day.

7. Find help. Use a book if you feel you are going nowhere. There are many books with meditations or explanations about the Bible that could help you. Make sure it is a Catholic Bible since some other editions exclude some of the seventy-two books of the Bible, leaving the story incomplete.

He also gave some pointers to check when acquiring a Bible:

1. The “imprimatur” notice on the back of the title page. An imprimatur indicates that the book is free of errors in Catholic doctrine.

2. Check the index and make sure it has the seventy-two inspired books.

3. A tip: The New American Bible, Ignatius Bible, and The New Jerusalem Bible are great choices!

We are celebrating today the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

The Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was celebrated at least by the sixth century, when St. Romanos the Melodist, an Eastern Christian who composed hymns used in the Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox liturgies, composed a hymn for the feast. The feast spread to Rome in the seventh century, but it was a couple more centuries before it was celebrated throughout the West.

The traditional date of the feast, September 8, falls exactly nine months after the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. The story of the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary is coined on the Protoevangelium of James, an apocryphal gospel written about A.D. 150. From this gospel we came to know that Mary's parents are Joachim and Anna, as well as the tradition that the couple was childless until an angel appeared to Anna and told her that she would conceive.

In celebration of Mama Mary's birthday, some Filipino celebrities joined in praying a million rosaries for World Peace.  The project aims to enlist a million Filipinos to pray the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary for peace.  The prayer project is called "A MIllion Roses for the World".

Why not visit the official site of Million Roses of the World and submit your pledge as a birthday gift to Mama Mary!

Happy birthday Mama Mary!

"By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing;
so on the seventh day He rested from all His work.
 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,
because on it He rested  from all the work of creating that He had done." 

On the Sixth Day God said "Let the land produce living creatures
according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground,
and wild animals, each according to its kind...

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,
and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air,
over the livestock, over all the earth,
and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God
he created him; male and female he created them.

God blessed them them and said to them,
"Be fruitful and increase in number;
fill the earth and subdue it...

God saw all that he had made and it was very good.

And there was evening and there was morning - the sixth day.

And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures,
and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky."

So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and
moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds,
and every winged bird according to its kind.

And God saw that it was good.

God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and
fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth."

And there was evening, and there was morning - the fifth day.

And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night,
and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years,
and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth."

And it was so. God made two great lights - the greater light to govern the day and
the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.
God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth,
to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness.
And God saw that it was good.

And there was evening, and there was morning - the fourth day.

Haven't you thought that God created light on the first day of creation?  Yes he did but these are specific lights.  What he did on the fourth day is to separate the day from the night.  He gave us something specific to mark the days with, to help us keep track of the days, years and seasons.

Can you imagine a world where we didn’t have any darkness?  And a total darkness?  And because of this he made the moon and the stars for the night.

God was very good indeed!

There was still water covering everything.

On the third day, God said, "Let the water beneath the sky be gathered into seas."

Then the water began to move.

There were all sorts of seas,
lakes,
and
rivers.

This formed dry land.

On the land,
there were tall mountains.
There were deep valleys.
God called the dry land earth

God said, "Let the earth give all grass, and plant, and every sort of fruit with seeds inside the fruit and plants so there will be more."

God was pleased.

Thanks God for these wonderful creations, the seas, the rivers, the trees, the colorful plants.  There are no words good enough to thank you for all of these.  Just thank you for everything!  Should we all thank God for all his masterpiece?

There was light but still water covered everything.



On the second day, God said, "Let the vapors separate to form the sky above and the oceans below.


This made the sky above.


This made the air we breathe.


God looked at what He had done.
God was pleased. 


Thanks God for the beautiful oceans and seas.


God entrusted us all his creations.  And what are we doing?  These creations are at risk from human activities.

Population growth, coastal fisheries, excessive domestic and agricultural waste pouring into ocean waters, poor land-use practices and over-exploitation of reef resources, with practices such as harvesting with dynamite and poison.
Again, what are we doing? We are destroying God's creations.  We can help to save our seas but we must act now, let's do our share.

In the beginning, there was nothing.
God was pleased.

When God created the universe, did he plan it all or did he do it at once?  Are there sketches, timetables, paper trails and more?

Did he miss something? Because God is perfect, all his ideas are perfectly done.

Whatever our guess, let's thank God we are part of his perfect creations!

The 10 Commandments is God's Revelation in the Old Testament found at Exodus, Chapter 20. They were given directly by God to the people of Israel at Mount Sinai after He had delivered them from slavery in Egypt.

"And God spoke all these words, saying: 'I am the LORD your God…

ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'

TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'

THREE: 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.'

FOUR: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.'

FIVE: 'Honor your father and your mother.'

SIX: 'You shall not murder.'

SEVEN: 'You shall not commit adultery.'

EIGHT: 'You shall not steal.'

NINE: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'

TEN: 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.'

Think how wonderful to live in the world given by our Holy God if these 10 commandments are being obeyed by each and everyone of us.  No crimes, no worries.

Jesus told Saint Faustina, “I remind you, My daughter, that as often as you hear the clock  strike the third hour, immerse yourself completely in My mercy, adoring and glorifying it; invoke its omnipotence for the whole world, and particularly for poor sinners; for at that moment mercy was opened wide for every soul. . . . try your best to make the Stations of the Cross in this hour” (Diary, 1572).

Why three o’clock?

Well, remember that Scripture tells us that at three o’clock in the afternoon, on the Friday He was crucified, Jesus “gave up His spirit” (Matthew 27:50; see Mark 15:37, Luke 23:46), the “veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:51; see Mark 15:38, Luke 23:45), and that shortly thereafter a soldier thrust his lance into Jesus’ side and “immediately blood and water flowed out” (John 19:34).

Theologically, this tells us that access to the “Holy of Holies” of the Temple, once limited only to the High Priest behind the veil, was given to every soul when Jesus’ heart was torn at the three o’clock hour. With His Sacred Heart opened wide, Blood and Water—love and purification, the red and white rays of The Divine Mercy—poured forth into a world darkened by sin.

What an awesome gift!

And so, because Christ died for us on a Friday, we should make every Friday into a day of penance and thanksgiving. Spiritual exercises (such as the Stations of the Cross), fasting (this is the origin of the tradition of meatless Fridays), and other practices (see the Catechism of the Catholic Church § 1438, below) join us spiritually with Christ in His unfathomable love for us.

And, whenever possible, we should take the time out of our work, every day at three o’clock, to join with that infinite love and mercy without which we would have no work—and no life.

The 3 O’clock Prayer

You died Jesus, but the source of life flowed out for souls and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world.

O Fountain of Life, immeasurable Divine Mercy, cover the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.

O Blood and Water which flowed out from the heart of Jesus as a Fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in You!

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and the whole world.

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and the whole world.

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and the whole world.

AMEN.

Jesus, King of Mercy, we trust in You!


[source and image credit:  Chastity - in SF]

The Lord's Prayer (also called the Pater Noster or Our Father) is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke which records Jesus being approached by "one of his disciples" with a request to teach them "to pray as John taught his disciples."

The Our Father is based on these passages from the Bible: Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4.

Matthew 6:9-13

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

   “‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
   on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
   as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
   but deliver us from the evil one.’

Luke 11:2-4

2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:

   “‘Father,[a]
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.[b]
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
   for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”

Our Father

Traditional version:

Our Father, Who art in heaven
Hallowed be Thy Name;
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Newer version:

Our Father, Who is in heaven,
Holy is Your Name;
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.

"To pray the rosary is to hand over our burdens to the merciful hearts of Christ and his Mother." - John Paul II

Did you ever wonder what the 15 promises of the Blessed Virgin Mary were and where they came from?  


Blessed Alan de la Roche and Dominic the Prussian, revived the Rosary during the last quarter of the 15th century, after a period of about 100 years where the Rosary had been forgotten. Thousands were inspired by Bl. Alan's claim that the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to him, telling him to take up the work started by St. Dominic, the founder of Bl. Alan's own order.


1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces.


2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.


3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.


4. It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.


5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish.


6. Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just, he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.


7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.


8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise.


9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.


10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.


11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.


12. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.


13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.


14. All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ.


15. Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

I remember when I was a child, I used to practice and pray the Holy Rosary.  I have a pamphlet which my mother bought me that guide me on how to pray the rosary.

I admit that as I grew up I wasn't able to recite this anymore.  All I did was to study and do the usual daily activities, until I graduated and worked and forget about the holy rosary, though I do pray to God daily, and I'm sure of that!

Now as I grew old I want to know more about God and his teachings and I believe that praying the Holy Rosary is one means of becoming a better catholic.

How to Pray the Rosary

1.While holding the crucifix make the Sign of the Cross and then recite the Apostles Creed.

2.Recite the Our Father on the first large bead.

3.On each of the three small beads recite a Hail Mary for an increase of faith, hope and charity.

4.Recite the Glory Be to the Father on the next large bead.

5.Recall the first Rosary Mystery and recite the Our Father on the next large bead. The Joyful Mysteries are meditated on Monday and Saturday, Sundays of Advent and after Epiphany until Lent. The Sorrowful Mysteries are meditated on Tuesday and Friday, and Sundays in Lent. The Glorious Mysteries are meditated on Wednesday and Sunday. The Luminous Mysteries are meditated on Thursday.

6.On each of the adjacent ten small beads (also refered to as a decade) recite a Hail Mary while reflecting on the mystery.

7.On the next large bead, recite the Glory Be to the Father. The Fatima decade prayer may also be said.
8.Each succeeding decade is prayed in a similar manner by recalling the appropriate mystery, reciting the Our Father, ten Hail Marys, the Glory Be to the Father, and the Fatima decade prayer (optional) while reflecting on the mystery.

9.When the fifth mystery is completed, the Rosary is Customarily concluded with the Hail, Holy Queen.

How about you, do you remember reciting the Holy Rosary during your childhood days?

What the Rosary Is

The word Rosary means "Crown of Roses". Our Lady has revealed to several people that each time they say a Hail Mary they are giving her a beautiful rose and that each complete Rosary makes her a crown of roses. The rose is the queen of flowers, and so the Rosary is the rose of all devotions and it is therefore the most important one.

The Rosary is made up of two things: mental prayer and vocal prayer.

In the Holy Rosary mental prayer is none other than meditation of the chief mysteries of the life, death and glory of Jesus Christ and of His Blessed Mother. The original fifteen mysteries are divided into Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious. John Paul II added in 2002 the Luminous Mysteries, or Mysteries of Light.

Vocal prayer consists in saying fifteen or five decades of the Hail Mary, each decade headed by an Our Father, while at the same time meditating on and contemplating the fifteen principal virtues which Jesus and Mary practised in the fifteen mysteries of the Holy Rosary.The complete Rosary consists of fifteen decades, but is more commonly said in five decades.

So the Rosary is a blessed blending of mental and vocal prayer by which we honor and learn to imitate the mysteries and the virtues of the life, death, passion and glory of Jesus and Mary.

The Holy Mother Church received the Rosary in its 15 mysteries form in 1214 in a miraculous way, when Our Lady appeared to Saint Dominic and gave it to him as a powerful means of converting the heretics and other sinners. Since then the devotion spread around the world with incredible and miraculous results.

Benefits of the Rosary

1. It gradually gives us a perfect knowledge of Jesus Christ.
2. It purifies our souls, washing away sin.
3. It gives us victory over all our enemies.
4. It makes it easy for us to practice virtue.
5. It sets us on fire with love of Our Lord.
6. It enriches us with graces and merits.
7. It supplies us with what is needed to pay all our debts to God and to our fellow men; and finally, it obtains all kinds of graces for us from Almighty God.

Blessings of the Rosary

1. Sinners are forgiven.
2. Souls that thirst are refreshed.
3. Those who are fettered have their bonds broken.
4. Those who weep find happiness.
5. Those who are tempted find peace.
6. The poor find help.
7. Religious are reformed.
8. Those who are ignorant are instructed.
9. The living learn to overcome pride.
10. The dead (the Holy Souls) have their pains eased by suffrages.

Source:  Our Lady Of Guadalupe